Full day of exploring

 Today kicked off our time in Tokyo.  Missy woke up at 3:30 am and just couldn’t go back to sleep - meanwhile Shan and Jason are sleeping like angels.  

Finally - they woke up and we went to breakfast - which was really good. 

We met up with our driver Richard at 9:00 and we were off.  Richard is an Englishman who has lived in Tokyo off and on for the past 30 or so years.  He originally worked for a UK company that sent him here to work.  He was very nice and easy to talk and joke with.

There is a very good baseballl player from Tokyo that plays in the US - can’t remember his name but had a long conversation with Richard - who couldn’t believe we didn’t know this baseball player.  “He’s EVERYWHERE” here.  

Our first stop was Tennou-ji Temple.  Small out of the way temple.  Extremely serene - there is a cemetery across from it and the temple sells flowers for the graves. 

Tokyo is soo very large.  The ‘sprawl’ goes forever - it can take more than an hour to get out of it.  

There are many sections and by the end of the day they were blurring together. 

We saw 2 more temples - 

Senso-ji Temple. 

This place was crazy!  To get to the shrine you walk through all of these shops.  Sellling everything from candy, to souvenirs, incense (which you could add to a rather large incense burner and waft the smoke toward you for good luck) and many other things.

Fun Fact - went to our first Japan 7-11 and within 30 seconds Jason was holding up a magazine - why you ask?  On the cover was this baseball player Richard was talking about - we had a chuckle and moved on to see what offerings we could get.  Mental notes were made by all for things we wanted to try on another day.

Meiji Jingu 

This was in a park like setting in the middle of the Tokyo sprawl.  It was amazing.

We went to the kitchen district where Missy snapped up 2 knives - really only needed one but…I found a 2nd one I couldn’t put down!

Then on to the electronics area - which also had a kitten and puppy cafe. :). 

Jason has already made plans to return for a deeper dive into all of the stores and with a more complete shopping list from his friends. 

Stopped at the Fish Market for lunch.  Okay - can’t really say that - it should read - Jason had lunch at the Fish Market.  Shan and Missy didn’t have much luck with our very particular palates.  SO we got chicken on a stick and some strawberries. 

Onward we went - see this street - it’s great for shopping… see that street - its great for food…see that street - its great for nightlife - see that street - its great for shopping - so many areas…so many places.  I started droppings “pins” on my map so we could find places again. 

We received a full update on the Olympics that were held here in Tokyo recently.  Ended up across a bridge so see the Stadium, various venues, Olympic Village (now apartments) and stopped at a waterfront park.

We were dropped off at our hotel around 5:00 - so we had a very full day!

We were ready for dinner - but nothing opened in the hotel until 6:00 - so we made dinner out of the executive lounge offerings - which turned out ok.  

Jason hit the streets after that - Shan hit the sack for a ‘little nap’ 

 

Sayōnara till tomorrow